All human, 3rd person POV. Enjoy.

It was nearing midnight, and the five year old girl was pitching around in her bed in the midst of a dream. Her tossing head allowed her bronze ringlets to shake loose from the headscarf that was supposed to prevent them from tangling. Kicking the covers off of herself in her unconscious state, Renesmee Cullen, or Ren as she was often called, soon started to shiver. Blearily, she began to awaken, opening and closing her eyes in a daze. Her young mind was disoriented, not used to being awake so late at night.

Her brown eyes cast around her room. She had her nightlight on, and moonlight streaming through her gossamer curtains, but all this light just made the shadows seem darker…and scarier. Still, Ren tried to be a big girl, closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep. But her state of unsettlement made it impossible for her to keep her eyes shut for any length of time. Before too long, she gave up trying to go back to sleep by herself and did what she always did in this situation.

Kicking off her comforter with purpose this time, she scurried as fast as her small legs would carry her through the shadows of her room and to the door, pulling it open and running down the hall to her parents room. Glancing left to right in the dark hall with trepidation, Ren raised her fist to knock on her parent's door, wanting to sleep with them in their big, safe bed, nestled in between.

But something made her pause before she knocked. Coming from inside the room were noises she had never heard before. There were low grunts and moans, though Ren wasn't sure what to call them. More prominently than her father, she heard these sounds in her mother's voice. To the little girl's naïve ears, it sounded like her mother was in pain. Someone was hurting her mother!

Ren knew there was only one other person in the room with her mommy.

In utter shock and fear, fear more real than the vague impressions of monsters in the shadows, Ren stood stock-still in the hallways for a few more minutes, listening to the pained sounds as her eyes filled with tears, unsure of what to do. Eventually she slowly padded back to her room, shutting her door and sliding down to the floor against it. She cried softly to herself at what she thought she'd just heard occur.

Edward Cullen stretched out lazily as the early morning sunshine woke him, much earlier than anybody else in the house awoke. He kept his eyes closed, only focusing on the release of tension in his muscles as he stretched, and the feel of the warm, soft, naked body lying plastered to him. He opened his eyes slowly, enjoying the sight, as always, of his sleeping wife dreaming on his chest. His fingers danced lightly over the bare skin of her back. He watched this, recalling to himself memories of last night when his fingers had danced over more salacious areas of his Bella's body, earning him with heady groans of pleasure from her sweet lips.

When the clock started to blink seven in the morning, Edward could no longer stop himself from kissing those sweet lips awake. In just a few moments, Bella's arms were slinking around his neck and holding him to her, as if he were trying to get away.

"Morning sweetness," he murmured huskily when they parted, keeping their faces close. Bella closed her eyes and smiled tranquilly.

"Good morning," she whispered back, wanting to lengthen this quiet moment as long she could. They held each other for a while, just snuggling, until Bella finally turned to the clock with a sigh.

"I think it's time to start making breakfast," she pointed out, weary to leave the bed but cheered at the thought of making a nice, leisurely Saturday morning meal for her husband and baby girl.

Fifteen minutes later Bella was standing at the stove making pancakes in Edward's discarded button down from yesterday. She loved wearing clothes that he had recently worn because then they carried more of his scent, a preference shared by their daughter as well. She hummed tunelessly to herself as Edward made them both a cup of coffee.

In the midst of breakfast-making, Renesmee finally woke up, coming downstairs as usual. What was unusual was her angry, stony expression as she entered the kitchen, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table and clambering into it. She crossed her arms when she was settled.

Both her parents turned at the sound of the chair squeaking on the linoleum, and smiled at their daughter, ignoring for the moment her expression. "Morning baby," Bella beamed at her daughter, and Edward did the same, saying "Good morning sweetheart."

From her hard gaze at the countertop, Renesmee turned to glare coldly at her father before glancing worriedly at her mother. Her mommy didn't look hurt, but that did nothing to assuage the young girl.

Bella and Edward furrowed their brows, exchanging looks of bewilderment. "Is something the matter, Ren?" Edward asked gently, wondering why his normally beaming little girl was looking so troubled.

Ren only responded with a tight shake of her head, glaring at the tabletop again.

Edward and Bella just shrugged at each other, and decided to drop it for now. Eventually they'd get it out of her, or she'd just get over it.

Breakfast was a mostly silent affair. Occasionally Bella or Edward would say something to Ren, hoping to bring out their sunny child. To her mom, Ren would reply with as little words as possible. To her dad, she glowered and refused to speak, the events of last night replaying in her mind. Edward and Bella grew more and more worried.

By the end of the meal, it had become too much for Renesmee. Her eyes welled with indignant tears, and her parent's faces reflected their alarm. "How could you!" she sobbed, staring her daddy right in the eye. "How could you?" Burying her face in her tiny hands, she cried out her worries and fears.

Edward was panicked at this seemingly manic outburst from his daughter. "How could I do what, Ren?" he asked softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder across the table. Shaking him off angrily, Ren jumped out of her seat and ran to where her mommy was sitting, scrambling into her lap and burying her face in her mother's chest. "Ren, what's wrong?" Bella asked anxiously. "Please, talk to us!"

"I…I…" Ren cried. "I heard Daddy hurting you!" Her tears flowed stronger. Bella looked to Edward over her sobbing daughter's head, his eyes reflecting all her concern and confusion.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" she questioned. "Your father has never hurt me, where are you getting this from?" To say she was baffled would be an understatement. Bella and her husband never even argued in front of their daughter.

"I heard it!" Ren wailed. "Last night! You sounded like someone was hurting you mommy!"

Edward froze, as did Bella. Edward watched his wife's face turn beet red in sudden understanding. In contrast, all the blood had run out of his face. That is, what was left in it after he heard his own daughter accuse him of harming his beloved.

The couple shared a mutual sigh, knowing what they would have to explain. Bella pled with Edward with her eyes, but he responded with a stony headshake. "She's not going to listen to me," he murmured. "You're the one she'll believe."

Bella sighed again.

"Ren, baby," she said softly to her daughter still crying into her bosom, softly stroking her hair. "What you heard…it's…it's not what you think, all right? Your daddy would never hurt me, not in a million years, and you have to believe that okay?"

Renesmee sniffed, and finally looked up into her mommy's eyes. "Then…then what were you doing?" she asked.

Bella flushed brilliantly again in mortification. "Erm…well…you see…actually, it's not really important to know the specifics at the moment. You'll know when you're older. All you need to know now is that…your father and I…er," she blushed brighter, if possible, "Were just showing each other how much we love each other, okay? In a way that adults sometimes do. And that's all you need to know for now. Your daddy was definitely not hurting me."

"Oh," Ren whispered, nodding her head. She blushed softly when she finally conceded that she'd been mistaken.

"Now why don't you hug your father," Bella whispered in her ear. "I'm sure he needs one."

Ren turned with big eyes to her daddy, where he attempted to smile reassuringly at her, though his face was still etched with pain. Renesmee's misinterpretation had been very hard to hear.

Overcome with guilt, Ren clambered from her mommy's lap to her daddy's, where he held out his arms to hold her tightly to him. "I'm sorry Daddy," she whispered. "That was really mean. I know you'd never hurt mommy and I'm sorry I thought so. I love you a lot," she finished quietly, nestling into her dad's chest.

"That's okay sweetheart," he murmured into her hair. "You were just trying to protect mommy and I don't blame you for that." He kissed her forehead. "Love you munchkin. You're a good girl."

Bella slipped from the room to let them have their moment.

Wow. It's been a while since I've written something to completion. It feels good. I have so many Bella/Edward/Renesmee cute family scenarios in my head, and I'll eventually write more.

Before I get the inevitable sentencing, I use Ren as Renesmee's nickname because I think in AU's like this it makes more sense. Nessie is something Jacob made up, but Jake isn't here. And I think Ren is the more obvious nickname to go with than Nessie in all-human reality.

Review please! Hope you enjoyed.

- The Romanticidal Edwardian